Five things to know about the U.S. energy landscape

By Ryan HoleywellHouston Chronicle

Published 4:52 am, Monday, December 1, 2014

Adam Sieminski, head of the U.S. Energy Information Administration, spoke at 2014 Deloitte Energy Conference in Houston about long-term trends facing the energy sector. Here are five takeaways from his presentation.

1. Oil is still king — and will be a for a while.

Sieminski said that EIA projections indicate that renwable energy sources and nuclear energy are the fastest growing fuels in the global market place. But that doesn’t mean oil’s influence is waning any time soon. Oil sill remains the dominant energy source for the duration of EIA forecasts, which extend to 2040.

2. Look to the developing world for demand.

Today, Sieminski said, almost all of the growth in energy consumption is coming from places in the developing world.

3. There’s still big demand for oil.

The world is going to need almost one-third more oil between 2010 and 2040. Developing countries in Asia and the Middle East will account for about 85 percent of that demand growth, Sieminski said.

4. When it comes to fossil fuels, the U.S. is tops.

The U.S. is now the world’s largest producer of both petroleum and natural gas, Sieminski said. Growing U.S. production is part of the reason energy prices didn’t spike in recent years, despite disruption in the Middle East. “When oil was trading in the $100-per-barrel range, I said… ‘without this, oil would probably but at $140 or $150 per barrel,’” Sieminski said.

5. Don’t expect an LNG bonanza

Despite a glut of applications for LNG export facilities, most of them won’t come to fruition. Many of the developers that have applied for LNG export facilities won’t ever actually build them, he said.